Interesting case - I have their "West Coast Boogaloo" album and I'm
trying to differentiate their sound from the sound of, say, 20 or so
years ago.
It turns out that the funk/jazz/fusion bands of the 70s were just doing
their kind of music with the instruments and technology available at the
time. With the Greyboy Allstars, I don't hear so much of a 'hip hop
influence' per se, but I *do* hear an intended sound - the *choice* use
of Rhodes electric piano, a Slingerland-ish drum kit, etc. I also notice
that in the mix, the drums aren't very loud and there's very little use
of reverb (actually more of a current trend; lots of 90s music is doing
this). So, I don't notice a real 'hip-hop' influence, but I do notice an
influence of the production methods of Greyboy, who through his DJing is
exposed to a lot of 70s-era records.
Elson